By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
It was just one more of the hundreds of tests of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile – but this one had a twist to it.
A joint Air Force and Navy crew launched the missile this week from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California while aboard the Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) – an E-6B Mercury aircraft. The unarmed missile, randomly selected from those based at Minot AFB, South Dakota, was equipped with multiple targetable re-entry vehicles.
At a speed of 15,000 miles an hour, the ICBM traveled roughly 4,200 miles to the Army’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It was a test not only of the ICBM, but also of the airborne launch system.
Reagan Test Site team members evaluated how the systems worked based on radar, optical and telemetry data collected during the terminal phase of the flight.
It was a successful ending to a test that took months to plan and execute.
“Ensuring the reliability of the US nuclear enterprise serves as the bedrock of our mission here at Vandenberg,” said Col. Dustin Harmon, commander of the 377th Test and Evaluation Group. “Today’s test launch exemplifies the unwavering readiness of our nation’s ICBMs, as well as the dedication of the professional airmen who maintain and operate them.”
The current Minuteman is the third version of a missile whose development began in the 1950s. It is the land leg of the US nuclear triad and roughly 400 of them are located in silos in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado.
The other two legs are Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and the nuclear weapons carried by long-range bombers.
The Minuteman III is due to be replaced by the LG-35A Sentinel, whose prime contractor is Northrop Grumman. Originally, that was to begin in 2029, with full capability set for sometime in the 2030s. But the program has been hit by delays and cost overruns.
One of the problems is that it’s not just a new missile that’s being built. The program includes an overhaul of the silos, control centers and underground living quarters for the crews.
Plus, the Sentinel and is replacing an analog weapon. That brings paradigm-changing speed and networking advantages, but also requires additional security and hardening of the sites.
In the meantime, the military must ensure that the aging Minuteman IIIs are capable of doing the job for more than another decade.
